And so as the clocks back in Britain tick past midnight, the 40th running of the Breeders’ Cup is in the form book, and the winning rides by Frankie Dettori, William Buick and Ryan Moore aboard Inspiral, Master Of The Seas and Auguste Rodin respectively will live long in the memory. Rick Dutrow, meanwhile, is back from his 10-year exile, and winning on the biggest stage that US racing can offer. Funny how things can turn around.
I hope you enjoyed the live coverage on the blog and there will be plenty to chew over tomorrow, but for now this is Greg Wood at Santa Anita, signing off.
BREEDERS' CUP SPRINT RESULT:
1. ELITE POWER, 2. Gunite, 3. Nakatomi.
Speed Boat Beach leads into the stretch, here comes Elite Power with a storming run … and he gets there with something to spare!
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT!
Elite Power, last year’s winner, is a sure-fire favourite for a repeat win, and currently a 2-1 shot on the tote. Here’s his success at Keeneland 12 months ago:
Dr Schivel and Speed Boat Beach, first and second over track and trip last month, are also prominent in the betting.
Ten minutes to post time for the last race of the night: they are out on the track for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
Here’s the replay of the Turf Sprint:
REPLAY: Nobals wins the $1 Million #BreedersCup Turf Sprint! Congrats to all connections! #BC23 pic.twitter.com/hpytTFJ2d7
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 4, 2023
A valiant run by Live In The Dream but he couldn’t maintain his speed to the line. Nobals (he’s a gelding, ho, ho), arrived on his inside and had little trouble easing past for the win. Ryan Moore arrived. with a flying run on Aesop’s Fables but could not edge out Big Invasion for second.
BREEDERS' CUP TURF SPRINT RESULT:
1. NOBALS, 2. Big Invasion, 3. Aesop’s Fables
Live In The Dream is fading, here’s Nobals on the inside, Aesop’s Fables coming with a run too
Two clear turning in, Motorious a long way back,
Live In The Dream out like lightning and leads
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP TURF SPRINT!
It is 5-2 Motorious, 7-2 Live In The Dream, 9-2 Caravel, and they are going in for the Turf Sprint.
Two minutes to post in the Turf Sprint, the locals are backing Motorious, the Green Flash Handicap winner.
Adam West, Live In The Dream’s trainer, sent the gelding to Keeneland for his prep run for the Turf Sprint, where he finished second in the Woodford after leading into the straight.
We are now 20 minutes away from one of the highlights of the whole weekend from a British point-of-view: the hugely likeable Live In The Dream and his even more likeable connections, looking to land the Turf Sprint.
To balance out the dumping on Rick Dutrow a little, here’s another Paulick Report piece on the divisions that arose in US racing after his ban.
Here’s the replay of the Classic, as we wait for the post-race interviews.
REPLAY: White Abarrio wins the $6 Million @LonginesEq #BreedersCup Classic! Congrats to all connections! #BC23 pic.twitter.com/9LCFP8T1Ny
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 4, 2023
A refresher from the excellent Paulick Report which includes details of Rick Dutrow’s extensive rap sheet before his 10-year ban from the sport, including “loaded syringes in a desk drawer in his barn office”.
You guessed it – just as the gates opened for the Classic, there goes the wifi.
That was a pretty straightforward win for White Abarrio though, he broke well and tracked the early pace set Arabian Knight and Saudi Crown, before taking over at the top of the stretch and holding the late charge of Japan’s Derma Sotogake.
Rick Dutrow is back in the big time.
BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC RESULT:
1. WHITE ABARRIO, 2. Derma Sotogake, 3. Proxy.
Going into the gates …
AND OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC!
The more I looked at this race over the week, and at Ushba Tesoro on the track, the more I started to think that he should probably be the favourite. The locals, though, definitely prefer White Abarrio, and he is a fairly solid 2-1 shot with a minute left to post time.
The connections of Auguste Rodin were just in the interview room, and suggested that all options remain open for their colt, including an intriguing suggestion that he might stay in training to be aimed at next year’s Classic at Del Mar. You would have to think it’s a 50-1 shot but stranger things have happened on the turf (and dirt).
And now, two races earlier than usual, here were are at the $6m Classic – the championship event of American dirt racing. Unlike last year, when hot favourite Flightline produced a memorable swansong at the end of a brilliant career, this looks like a very open (and perhaps sub-standard) renewal.
The market is currently struggling to separate the top three in the betting: White Abarrio, Japan’s Ushba Tesoro and Arabian Knight.
White Abarrio arrives on the back of a career-best performance in the Whitney at Saratoga:
His trainer, incidentally, is Richard E Dutrow, successful in the Kentucky Derby with Big Brown in 2008, but subsequently banned for 10 years for a whole string of medication offences.
Arabian Knight won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar:
Ushba Tesoro, meanwhile, is 7 from 8 since a switch to dirt and his only defeat came on a sloppy track. His biggest win came in the Dubai World Cup in March.
Ryan Moore is in the interview room:
It didn’t really go to plan the first half of the race at all, everyone was in each other’s way. I didn’t really like where I was but I wanted to let the horse find some sort of rhythm, and when a run presented itself, I was able to keep going. Considering the first half, I think it was a big performance and probably the best that he’s been.
Here’s an aerial view of Ryan Moore’s winning move in the Turf:
A genius move from Ryan Moore! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/I4O3zXoBeZ
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) November 4, 2023
That were also big runs there from Up To The Mark, showing himself effective at this trip, and also Shahryar who, like the winner, is by the Japanese stallion, Deep Impact.
That was another memorable ride and another top-notch winner for Team Europe. Here’s the closing stages:
What a star! Auguste Rodin wins the Breeders’ Cup Turf for Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore! #BC23 pic.twitter.com/gF091RSE4u
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) November 4, 2023
BREEDERS' CUP TURF RESULT:
1. AUGUSTE RODIN, 2. Up To The Mark, 3. Shahryar.
Still the outsider Balladeer leads but they’re queueing up to take him on
Amazing run around the inside by Ryan Moore on Auguste Rodin, he hits the front with a furlong to run, Up To The Mark and Shahryar try to close but Moore has sealed it
Up To The Mark also prominent, Auguste Rodin has three behind him
Balladeer leads, King Of Steel broke well and is handy
They are going into the stalls …
AND NOW OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP TURF!
Shahryar, from Japan, has not been in tip-top form this season but would have a real chance on his form in the 2022 Sheema Classic in Dubai:
About 5 minutes to the off in the Turf and Auguste Rodin, the Derby winner, is firming up as the likely favourite at around 5-2.
A full(ish) list at the current tote odds: 5-2 Auguste Rodin, 3-1 Up To The Mark, 7-2 Mostahdaf, 7-1 War Like Goddess, 8-1 King Of Steel, 10-1 Onesto, 20-1 Shahryar, 30-1 bar.
Updated
As for the US challenge, Up To The Mark won the Turf Mile at Keeneland but is obviously taking a big step up in trip here:
War Like Goddess, meanwhile, was third behind Rebel’s Romance in this race last year:
My fancy here, for what that’s worth, is Onesto, who has not had as much racing this year as most of his rivals and should be lining up as a relatively fresh horse. His run into third behind the exceptional Ace Impact in the Arc was his best of the campaign, and this track, trip and time of year could be the perfect combo.
Track feed reports that Mostahdaf, the International Stakes winner, has “been a handful to say the least” in the saddling barn. Rishi Persad, though, is on hand to point out that this just how he is – he is a strapping, hormone-fuelled colt, after all.
Jim Crowley, his regular rider, is aboard today, but Frankie was in the plate for a memorable International:
And now we come to what is, on paper, the best race of the day, with the Derby 1-2, the International winner, the Champion Stakes winner and the close third in the Arc all in the mix for the Turf, and up against two useful contenders from the US and a live outsider from Japan.
Here’s the Derby in June, where Auguste Rodin beat King Of Steel:
King Of Steel was a big outsider there, but favourite for the Champion Stakes just two weeks ago, when he gave Frankie Dettori a memorable send-off (perhaps) from his favourite track.
That was a 1-2 for trainer Brad Cox, and while the closers did their best, the first two home had it between them from a long way out.
Here’s the replay:
REPLAY: Idiomatic wins the $2 Million @LonginesEq #BreedersCup Distaff! Congrats to her connections! #BC23 pic.twitter.com/eWsJuG29Kt
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 4, 2023
BREEDERS' CUP DISTAFF RESULT:
1. IDIOMATIC, 2. Randomized, 3. Le Da Vida.
Turning in, Idiomatic comes alongside, edges in front but here come the closers, four or five trying to close the gap … but Idiomatic holds on!
Randomized leads early, Idiomatic close behind, Hoosier Philly and Adare Manor too
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP DISTAFF!
Two minutes to post in the Distaff, Idiomatic remains a warm favourite but I’m going to side with the attitude and finishing speed of Clairiere.
It’s hard to argue with a seven-from-eight streak, but like most of these fillies and mares, Idiomatic has been beating small fields at short odds and there are some decent alternatives in the field.
Clairiere found a hugely impressive burst of finishing speed to run down Search Results, also in today’s field, in the Grade One Ogden Phipps:
Adare Manor, meanwhile, also has a lot of “1”s in front of her name thanks to short-odds wins in small fields, and will bid to end one of the more implausible droughts in US racing by giving Bob Baffert a first win in the Distaff.
We’ve now reached the halfway point of the card: the Breeders’ Cup Distaff – effectively the Classic for fillies and mares.
An interesting factoid from the track feed is that this has not been won wire-to-wire since 2012, which could be significant given that Idiomatic, the warm favourite, likes to make the running.
She has won seven of her last eight starts, including the Spinster Stakes:
The connections of Master Of The Seas have just been in the interview room, William Buick included:
I looked up halfway down the back and thought, ‘that’s a lot of horses to pass’, but I didn’t turn as wide as I thought I’d have to, and once he went past the quarter-pole, he just took off.
Here’s the replay of the Breeders’ Cup Mile, astonishing stuff from William Buick on Master Of The Seas:
Wow's that close! Master Of The Seas beats Mawj in a @godolphin 1-2 to the Breeders' Cup Mile! #BC23 pic.twitter.com/GDMGv0W3wU
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) November 4, 2023
BREEDERS' CUP MILE RESULT:
1. MASTER OF THE SEAS, 2. Mawj, 3. Casa Creed.
What a finish between the two Godolphin runners. This could even be a dead heat.
Oisin Murphy seemed to have done everything right, the lead he grabbed after taking over in the stretch looked sure to be decisive … BUT NO!
The result is in: a win for Master Of The Seas under what has to be the ride of the night by William Buick from stall 14.
Into the stretch, Mawj strikes the front, she’s a length clear but here comes Master Of The Seas … oh my, that is SO CLOSE at the wire … PHOTO!
Down the back, still Win Carnelian, Astronomer and Mawj in close attendance. …
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP MILE!
Win Carnelian leads with Mawj close behind …
Going in for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, won’t be long …
Have been suffering from a bit of seconditis so far today but I do like Songline here, she’s caught my eye again and again during trackwork here this week.
They are on the track for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, Songline currently the narrow favourite at 3-1 on the tote, with Mawj and Casa Creed, the best of the locals, on 5-1 and Gina Romantica on 8-1.
This is Casa Creed winning the Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga, a Grade One, giving weight to all rivals.
While I think of it, here’s the replay of Goodnight Olive’s second successive win in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint:
REPLAY: Goodnight Olive wins the $1 Million @PNCBank #BreedersCup Filly & Mare Sprint! Congrats to her connections! #BC23 pic.twitter.com/cmlJoCUJ87
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 4, 2023
That was her last race, and she will be sold to go to the paddocks, for a no doubt eye-watering sum, in Lexington next week.
Songline, from Japan, is also a really big runner here despite a double-figure draw, and will be carrying a bit of my cash. She was just touched off coming with a late rattle in the Mainichi Okan in Tokyo.
Well done Goodnight Olive, but I’m not sure there’s much more to add, and as the clock here ticks past 13.00 Pacific Time, we move on to what is always one of the highlights of the card for US/Euro rivalry: the Mile.
Exaulted, drawn 12, has been scratched, but there are still all manner of possibilities in a race where luck in running can often be decisive.
Mawj, the 1,000 Guineas winner for Saeed bin Suroor, has a great draw in stall six, while his Godolphin colleague, Charlie Appleby, had a head-in-hands moment at the draw on Monday when Master Of The Seas, a Grade 1 winner at Woodbine in September, was drawn widest of all in 14.
Mawj warmed up in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Keeneland:
Master Of The Seas, meanwhile, took the Woodbine Mile in September:
BREEDERS' CUP FILLY & MARE SPRINT RESULT:
1. GOODNIGHT OLIVE, 2. Yuugiri, 3. Three Witches.
Updated
Society and Yuugiri lead, Goodnight Olive tracking …
Down the stretch, Goodnight Olive takes over, Yuugiri second, but that was a very cosy success for last year’s winner.
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY & MARE SPRINT!
Goodnight Olive still very solid at around even-money for the next, it’s three minutes to post time.
All in all, I’m not entirely convinced about Goodnight Olive from one, so I’m going to have a very optimistic stab at Yuuguri, who is drawn on the outside but simply looks too big at her current price of around 22-1 on the local tote.
That is a very obvious contender for ride of the meeting already, but there are still seven races left on the main card, with the Filly & Mare Sprint – yes, yes, I know it’s seven furlongs but that’s what it’s called – up next.
Another returning champion here in last year’s winner, and very warm favourite, Goodnight Olive, who was impressive 12 months ago.
She is not miles clear on the ratings, however, and has drawn the inside stall, and Society is a live alternative at around 3-1 after her win in the Pink Ribbon Stakes at Charles Town.
And don’t overlook win-and-you’re-in qualifier Yuugiri, who didn’t have too many rivals to beat last time but knuckled down really well.
The prizes have just been handed out for the Filly & Mare Turf, and Frankie was speaking to Nick Luck on the track:
She’s temperamental but she’s very, very good and she’s proved it today that she can do it on the other side of the world.
That is Frankie’s 15th Breeders’ Cup winner and he is, quite rightly, going to milk it for all it’s worth. It all unfolded just as he said it would in the interview beforehand, and he made his own luck by getting Inspiral into the perfect position to launch her stretch run as they came off the bend.
Updated
Here’s the full replay from the Breeders’ Cup Twitter feed:
REPLAY: Inspiral (GB) wins the $2 Million @MakersMark #BreedersCup Filly & Mare Turf! Congrats to her connections! #BC23 pic.twitter.com/CmTKJupCj9
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 4, 2023
Dettori and Ryan Moore both rode magnificent races there, but Warm Heart just couldn’t cope with Inspiral’s turn of foot. Flying dismount incoming!
BREEDERS' CUP FILLY & MARE TURF RESULT:
1. INSPIRAL, 2. Warm Heart, 3. Moira.
Updated
Going to the wire, Warm Heart still leads but Frankie gets there! Brilliant ride by the one and only Frankie Dettori.
Warm Heart gets first run on Inspiral but here comes Frankie …
Still In Italian turning out of the back, Frankie making progress on Inspiral
Inspiral has three behind crossing the line for the first time
In Italian leads as expected, from State Occasion, Fev Rover and Warm Heart.
OFF AND RUNNING IN THE BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY & MARE TURF!
Approaching the gate in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Meanwhile, here’s the moment when Cody’s Wish returned to meet his biggest fan after the Dirt Mile.
We’re not crying, you are. 🥹 #BC23 pic.twitter.com/8YnNgDy8Xb
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) November 4, 2023
The trip here at Santa Anita, by the way, is half a furlong further than it was last year at Keeneland, and I’m hoping that will be ideal for my pick, Warm Heart.
Other contenders worth a mention are Lumiere Rock, from the Joseph O’Brien yard, and the Japanese challenger, Win Marilyn, with Cristian Demuro – the Arc winner on Ace Impact – riding.
Latest betting on the track tote: 5-2 Inspiral, 3-1 In Italian, 7-2 Warm Heart, 10-1 Didia, 12-1 Lindy, 14-1 With The Moonlight, 18-1 bar.
With The Moonlight is also in the line-up for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin, and the trainer could definitely do with a winner here at the end of what has been a disappointing year by his very high standards.
She has a bit to find with the principals on ratings, but is at least a very seasoned traveller, having raced at Meydan, Keeneland and Woodbine already this year. That latest run, a second behind Fev Rover, who is also in today’s field, in the EP Taylor Stakes, is also worth a second look.
Frankie Dettori has just been interviewed on the track feed regarding how he thinks this race will go:
She always gives a couple of lengths away at start. I’ll try to get out as quick as I can and not find myself with too much to do, I’ll need a bit of Lady Luck
The races come thick and fast once it all gets going, so it’s probably time to turn to the Filly & Mare Turf, which is due off in just over 20 minutes’ time.
Several big chances for the Europeans here, including Inspiral, with Frankie Dettori up, who has opened as the 2-1 favourite locally. Warm Heart, the Yorkshire Oaks and Vermeille winner, is 4-1, along with the main US-trained hope, In Italian, who made all the running last year until Tuesday ran her down in the shadow of the post.
Here’s Inspiral winning the Sun Chariot at Newmarket last time:
And this is Warm Heart in the Vermeille:
And last but not least, last year’s race with In Italian getting chinned late:
Cody Dorman, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder which means he cannot speak or walk, is the inspiration for the whole story of Cody’s Wish, and is once again in the winner’s enclosure to welcome the horse back.
Here’s the closing stages via Twitter:
The fairytale continues! Cody’s Wish wins the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile #BC23 pic.twitter.com/TBAJYwVgDq
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) November 4, 2023
BREEDERS' CUP DIRT MILE RESULT:
1. CODY’S WISH, 2. National Treasure, 3. Skippylongstocking.
They didn’t. Cody’s Wish confirmed as the winner, prompting chants of “Cody’s, Cody’s” from the stands.
They came very close in the stretch, and the rules here can seem quite harsh to a European eye. Local journalists meanwhile are wondering whether the stewards will “have the b*lls” to take down the hugely popular favourite.
Cody’s Wish gets the verdict by the narrowest of margins BUT there is an inquiry. HOLD ALL BETS!
Here comes Cody’s Wish, taking on National Treasure, who fights back right on the wire …. PHOTO!
Off and running in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile!
National Treasure making the running, Cody’s Wish well off the pace
Approaching the gates for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile …. Cody’s Wish still odds-on as they begin to load up, right in front of the stands.
Can’t really let this race pass without the traditional mention of the fact that its full name is the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, because the firm that sponsors it is a supplier of very big fans. Not that anyone in the UK is likely to be needing one of those for a while.
One other horse that might warrant consideration is Charge It, whose overall record is distinctly in-and-out but does include the odd performance, like his win in the Suburban Stakes earlier this year, that would put him there with a chance.
National Treasure, meanwhile, is a without a win in three starts since the Preakness, but that included races at 12 and 10 furlongs and he is dropping back to a mile here, which could be in his favour.
Cody’s Wish is a 3-5 chance on the track tote, with Brad Cox’s Zozos and the Preakness winner, National Treasure, next in at 7-2 and 6-1 respectively.
Zozos earned his place in the field with a win in the Ack Ack at Churchill:
Personally, I’ll be steering well clear of this race from a betting perspective. If forced to give a tip, it would have to be Cody’s Wish, who has plenty in hand on ratings, but that is based on his best form and he has looked some way below his peak this year. He was a 1-9 chance for the Grade 2 Vosburgh at Aqueduct, for instance, but distinctly workmanlike in victory:
The runners have just crossed the line in the second race on the card, which is, a little oddly, the Grade 2 Twilight Derby – a race that used to be run, as the name suggests, at the end of the card.
That switch highlights a new running order for proceedings this year, with the Classic shifted from its traditional slot as the final Breeders’ Cup race to a new position as the third-from-last. The Turf Sprint and then the Sprint, at midnight UK time, will bring the card to a close.
This is probably a good time to start thinking about the first Breeders’ Cup race, the Dirt Mile, and if we’re being honest, it’s been an ill-starred contest already this year. Practical Move, the likely second-favourite, suffered a fatal heart attack on the way back from exercise earlier in the week, while Algiers, the runner-up in the Dubai World Cup earlier in the year, was ruled out with an injury soon afterwards.
That leaves a field of seven, headed by the likely odds-on favourite, Cody’s Wish, who will bid to repeat his win in this race 12 months ago:
Preamble
Hello from Santa Anita in southern California, where the sun is shining, the track looks immaculate and, thankfully, the track seem to have sorted out the tech issues that effectively made it impossible to live-blog Friday’s opening card. So, fingers crossed that I’ll be able to share with you the giddy roller-coaster that is the nine-race Saturday card at the Breeders’ Cup.
And there is so much to look forward to as the day unfolds, including a renewal of the Turf (21.50GMT) which is quite possibly the best I can recall in 30 years of following and reporting on the Breeders’ Cup, while the Filly & Mare Turf (19.10GMT), the Mile (20.30GMT) and the Turf Sprint (23.25GMT) are also rich with promise for the European team.
On the dirt, the Classic (22.40) looks very open (if you’re being polite) and a little sub-standard (if you’re not), which could leave the way open for Ushba Tesoro to give Japan a historic win in the $6m feature.
The weather, needless to say, is set fair with temperatures set to peak at around 28C. The setting, beneath the San Gabriel mountains, is as timeless and magical as always (I even spotted a couple of hummingbirds flitting in and out of the flowers on the walk across the parking lot earlier).
And the action is underway in about 50 minutes, at 18.30GMT, with the Dirt Mile. I’ll be looking to get previews and video form up well in advance so that everyone can make their picks as the evening goes on, my thoughts about several of the days main events are here – though after Fierceness & Big Evs yesterday, the tipping can probably go only one way – and it should be fantastic ride whether it is morning, afternoon or night in your timezone. Buckle up, let’s do this!
